Your take on Reggae? Love it, hate it, etc?

[Dreamer]

Any time I have not had any choice but have had to listen to reggae (mercifully just a few times), the bass on the stereo system was at maximum and the loudness button was depressed...and the volume was waaay up, so how can you guys listen to it on your high-end systems ?

If you've never hear a well-mastered Reggae performance on a good audio system, you've never really heard reggae...

And although I'll agree with a previous post that "Legend" is probably oneof Marley's weakest albums (it's CERTAINLy his most intentionally commercial), the DVD from the live concert at the Santa Barbara County Bowl in 1979 entitled "Bob Marley And The Wailers - The Legend Live DVD" is a VERY good concert DVD and it has a very nicely remastered 5.1 Dolby soundtrack.

"Babalon By Bus" is one of Marley's better efforts on CD. It is full of emotion--anger, frustration, love and joy--and the most recent remastered re-release is just fantastic--almost as "real" sounding as the original release on vinyl...

Believe me, well-recorded and mastered reggae can be a real thrill to listen to. It's one of the few genre's of music that I consider to be, almost always, better on record than live (because the concert sound-guys tend to be completely baked young dudes with massive hearing loss from their turbocharged car stereos).

Also, you need to remember that one of the side effects of large doses of THC is that it dulls your hearing--especially in the treble and midrange, and it also dulls your tactile senses somewhat too, meaning that to FEEL the bass, you need to really crank it up in a concert. If the sound man is catering to the majority of the people in the front of the audience, he's going to have to adjust the EQ in some pretty strange curves to get it to sound "right" to those ardent fans who have "taken their sacraments" before the concert...

Judging reggae based on what you've heard blaring out of some "urban" thug's tricked-out hoopdee is like saying that medieval art is all crap based on what you've seen at the local Renaissance Faire. It's not really an objective or fair assessment.

 

[User211]

True appreciation of reggae can only be learned if the listener is experiencing a similar bio-chemical state of awareness as the performers. It is a form of "state-dependent learning", and although a person may be able to somehow enjoy reggae without sharing this bio-chemical state experience with the musicians, the experience will be superficial.

Reggae is fundamentally a sacred music--used to teach lessons, transmit morals and history across generations, and form community through sharing of life experiences. As with any form of sacred music, it may be enjoyed analytically or superficially by "outsiders" and academics, but true "overstanding" of the socio-spiritual depth of Reggae music can only be experienced if the listener has a personal and intimate understanding of the Rastafari weltanchauung, through receiving of their sacraments, discussion and learning of their scriptures (reasonings), and sympathy with their goals.

I would suggest, Tom, that you probably haven't done these things. I would venture to say that you don't "get" Tibetan throat-singing, Huong Thanh (Vietnamese sacred music), or Bata (sacred music of Yoruba/Ifa and Afro-Caribbean Santeria) either, and for many of the same reasons...

http://www.religionfacts.com/a-z-religion-index/rastafarianism.htm

In other words, to really "get" Reggae, you need to get really high on ganja, sit for hours discussing the issues of man's relationship with Divinity, dance nyabingi, and be an downpressed member of a dominator culture fighting against your downpression.

Actually once you understand that Ganja is a sacrament given to man directly from God, most of the rest of it pretty much follows. It's actually pretty hard to deny--I mean, the temperature at which THC starts to metabolize IS 98.6° F, and that's pretty hard to write off to pure coincidence...

If I and I want to "get" how Rasta think, listen to how Rasta speak. Rasta have a dialect that is painfully straightfoward and truth-laden. It takes the twisted Orwellian syntax and meanings of modern English, deconstructs it to reveal it's REAL meaning--that of downpression, subjugation and obfuscation--and replaces those words and syntax with new words that have a much more "reasoned" structure.

If the Rastafari movement ever gains a foothold in a nation that has "strategic" value to the USA, it will be labeled as the next "Al Quaida"--this stuff is DANGEROUS to the status quo. Rastafari doctrine stresses simple life, brutal honesty in communication, communal consideration of one's actions, and considered greed and covetousness to be some of the most egregious sins. That sort of thinking is just the sort of thing that many people in the West these days consider to be verging on "terrorist doctrine". Let's hope that the Rasta movement never gets in the way of the Military Industrial complex, or else we'll start seeing news reports about pot-crazed, dreadlock-wearing "religious fanatics", and telling us what a threat to our way of life these people represent. Let us pray that these gentle, kind, thoughtful people never come to the attention of Babylon on that level. The world would be a much worse place without Rastafari and their wonderful culture.

Jah Rastafari,
Deliver us from the hands of our enemy that we may prove faithful for the last day, when our enemy has passed, and decayed in the depth of the sea or in the belly of the beast.
Selah.
Amen.

OK - I have quoted it all - this is just a great, great post. Having lived in St Pauls in Bristol as a student (principally a black area), and attended the local blues clubs for many a year, I must confess to loving reggae. And as an ex-punk, there was a strong bind between punk and reggae culture over here in the late 70s/early 80s. I remember seeing Black Uhuru live at Leeds University and they were amazing.

Bernard - some of the best sounding LPs I have are reggae ones - Dennis Brown, Black Uhuru in fact most of the stuff Risabet listed - the stuff just sounds great via Logans - at least in does on my system. And some of the local blues club systems pumped out great sounding stuff via 12" vinyl, horns and huge bass bins.

It's an acquired taste, and if you haven't experienced and been part of or learned to respect the culture, you won't "get it".

 

[Bernard]

Bernard - some of the best sounding LPs I have are reggae ones - Dennis Brown, Black Uhuru in fact most of the stuff Risabet listed - the stuff just sounds great via Logans - at least in does on my system. And some of the local blues club systems pumped out great sounding stuff via 12" vinyl, horns and huge bass bins.

If I don't like the music the quality of the recording is irrelevant to me. Some of my favourite music is on crappy-sounding LPs. To me reggae/rap recorded and played back on a high-speed Studer machine would still be something I dislike. The music, not the recording quality, is the most important thing to me!

 

[TomDac]

OK - I have quoted it all - this is just a great, great post. Having lived in St Pauls in Bristol as a student (principally a black area), and attended the local blues clubs for many a year, I must confess to loving reggae. And as an ex-punk, there was a strong bind between punk and reggae culture over here in the late 70s/early 80s. I remember seeing Black Uhuru live at Leeds University and they were amazing.

Bernard - some of the best sounding LPs I have are reggae ones - Dennis Brown, Black Uhuru in fact most of the stuff Risabet listed - the stuff just sounds great via Logans - at least in does on my system. And some of the local blues club systems pumped out great sounding stuff via 12" vinyl, horns and huge bass bins.

It's an acquired taste, and if you haven't experienced and been part of or learned to respect the culture, you won't "get it".

OMG.. I'm with 211 here.. CLASSIC post.

:ROFL:

please pass the doob.

 

[MiTT]

OMG.. I'm with 211 here.. CLASSIC post.

:ROFL:

please pass the doob.

Yep, I'm with both 211 and Dreamer and Risabet on this one. Dreamer, I've always liked your posts, you have a lot to contribute here, but this may be your best yet. All art, any art, can only really be understood within the context of the society it represents and defines.

I wouldn't call myself a huge Reggae fan, but every time I do listen to any of my reggae (I only have about 30 real reggae albums), it never fails to put a smile on my face. I don't partake of ganja, but I get it. I've got most of the albums everyone has already mentioned, plus some Sly and Robbie, Big Mountain and a couple of Bob Marley's talented kids - Ziggy and (my favorite) Kai Manny Marley. As for recording quality - "Natty Dread" is an awesome recording!

As with all else, to each his own, but I can't imagine my record collection without any of the Reggae I own.

 

[C.A.P]

Im down with Reggae ! I like it ! Don't have a huge selection but its one of those musical genera that when you hear it you just to tap !

 

[Rich]

All art, any art, can only really be understood within the context of the society it represents and defines.

Wow, Richard had a great post, going into wonderful detail in supporting his statements, and then Tim comes along and incapsulates the whole post in one, concise nutshell of a sentence. Kudos to all of you. Much better said than my feeble attempts.

"Don't bogart that joint, my friend. Please pass it over to meeee." (OK, it's not reggae, but it is classic! God, I love Lowell George.)

 

[tonepub]

Now tibetan throat singing is pretty cool.

I saw Dan Reed do that at a performance here in Portland this summer.
Remember our city slogan is "Keep Portland Weird"

He brought his tibetan vocal coach out with him and it was amazing! Kind of sounded like when they used "The Voice" on Dune. Creepy but cool..

Interesting thought about the Punk and Reggae connection...

I always saw early rap music as an extension of punk, because you had a group of black kids that were ****ed off due to economic and social conditions, just like the punks were in the UK.

My problem is I'm a complete cracker who grew up in the Suburbs, so I didn't have a right to be ****ed off about anything. I think my response to punk and rap was just a boredom with living in the burbs and going to heavy metal concerts with 20 minute bass solos. So when I saw the clash on TV, it seemed pretty cool and energetic.

For me, music is like food. I'm always trying something new to add to the list of stuff I like and if I don't like it at first I still sample it on a regular basis. Hey, I didn't like Bob Dylan or Pumpkin Pie till I was in my 40s', so who knows? And for the most part, my taste in music is so wacky, far be it from me to criticize ANYONE's taste.

 

[slowGEEZR]

Reggae? I've only heard it on the radio or at a few parties and I think it is about the most boring stuff I've ever heard. I don't care if the lyrics have all the meaning and hopefulness in the world, if every song has the same beat, it's boring to me. To me, if you've heard one reggae song, you've heard them all.

 

[jtwrace]

And you thought all I did was unbox stuff from MartinLogan!!!

:ROFL:

haha

 

[Bernard]

Remember our city slogan is "Keep Portland Weird"

A city like "Port-land" has great promise, having "port" in its name - I love port (with Roquefort cheese).

 

[tonepub]

Well, we certainly have a lot of great places to eat, buy records and see live music. All top priorities on my list.

 

[risabet]

Interesting thought about the Punk and Reggae connection...

I always saw early rap music as an extension of punk, because you had a group of black kids that were ****ed off due to economic and social conditions, just like the punks were in the UK.

. . . . I think my response to punk and rap was just a boredom with living in the burbs and going to heavy metal concerts with 20 minute bass solos. So when I saw the clash on TV, it seemed pretty cool and energetic.

For me, music is like food. I'm always trying something new to add to the list of stuff I like and if I don't like it at first I still sample it on a regular basis. Hey, I didn't like Bob Dylan or Pumpkin Pie till I was in my 40s', so who knows? And for the most part, my taste in music is so wacky, far be it from me to criticize ANYONE's taste.

I didn't like punk until my wife (12 years my junior) reintroduced me to the genre with bands like The Descendants, Black Flag, The Ramones, and especially The Dead Kennedys. Sonically some are good and others, well, aren't, but it is the music and punk was socially and politically active and I like that in my "popular" music.

 

[Satch]

I'm with Mitt on Natty Dread, great sounding studio recording for a 30+ yr. old album. Don't care much for the quality of the live recordings from Marley albums of that time. I'd like to hear AcousTech remaster some of those and clean them up and put them on H.Q. vinyl.

It's funny to watch my cracker surfer buddies try to dance to raggae. Aston "Family Man" Barrett's bass lines can have even the most talented surfers tripping over their feet. I love dancing to reggae almost as much as belly-rubbing slow blues or an upbeat swing...

 

[FISH_MAN]

I just had to say that I really like a lot of Reggae music. I actually listen quite a bit.

 

[User211]

Let's face it, when it comes to "cool" hairstyles, the Rastafarian dreadlocks beat them all. Nothing like seeing a Rasta bouncing around on stage, spliff in hand, ganja fragrance in the air, locks moving freely everywhere, giving his all about whatever he feels is important. It's this aspect that's lost with recordings, but then you could say that about most genres, it's just that this one had a style I loved.

If I am honest, I haven't really kept up with reggae, but I do still play the old classics quite frequently. In fact, I'm just about to put some on...

A lot of whites see it as a culture based around marijuana, and therefore it must be bad etc. But this is just plain BS, really. The drug is way less harmful than alcohol, but it is always discriminated against by the authorities. Perhaps they don't like the fact it actually makes you think, rather than go out on a Friday night, get so drunk you don't know what you are doing, and get into street brawls. This kind of activity is always on the news over here.

Yet we have the prime hippocrites like Jaqui Smith and a whole load of other MPs get up and admit that they used to smoke it, then declare they are raising the consquences of getting caught with it. They come out with the excuse that good old MJ is much stronger than it used to be.

This is just plain BS again. A plant's strength is genetically determined, and virtually no strains contain more than 25% THC. The plant's gene pool has not, as far as I am aware, been genetically modified, so nothing has changed in at least the past 1,000,000 years.

Hell, even good old Bill was partial to the odd toke, even if he didn't "inhale".

I think the Canadian attitude to MJ is the coolest I have heard since the Dutch, but things in Holland seem to be moving in the wrong direction...

What's the matter with Mary Jane? (A.A. Milne).

You may think I am a chronic MJ smoker, but I am not. I just hate to see the pure idiocy in the way this drug is treated, and the blind acceptance of a drug that is ultimately far worse and causes much more damage to societies.

 

[lonergan2468]

TOUGH there are other journals that she can read.

 

[User211]

Who Mary? Yeah, she's got loads... cos many love her.

And another bone to pick - if strength is such an issue, ban Scotch!

 

[Bernard]

And another bone to pick - if strength is such an issue, ban Scotch!

ALL Scotch, or just the blended stuff ?

 

[User211]

It's one of those drinks I have tried to like, but just can't. So we'll leave it to you, Bernard. Tonight, you can be President!